Grey to Green: The Future

Three weeks down and the PSP project is going without a hitch.  By far a simpler process than I had expected with great positive results.  With no real maintenance and the washing machine doing all the work, this system is an easy project for any homeowner to begin.  I’ve had no issues with the lawn and or flower garden; all the products that I’ve used to clean the clothes have had no negative effects on the backyard ecosystem.  Tide laundry detergent has done a terrific job not only keeping my clothes clean but my lawn as well! (Joke) Another great side point to this system is that it is total hands free. What I mean is that once the clothes are placed into the washing machine, I don’t’ have to remember to fill the irrigation tank as the washing machine pumps the water to this system automatically.  So, it’s a no nonsense system that performs all the work for you, who could ask for more?  This PSP is great with multiple applications that I want to convert the remaining gray water uses to irrigation or in fact with some added money and time, I would like to reroute the plumbing to allow for reused gray water to be use as toilet water.  The bathroom is one of the largest consumers of indoor water besides the laundry machine.  On average the toilet can use up to 27% of the household water supply and with older toilet using around 3.5 to 7 gallons of water per flush with leaky toilets wasting about 200 gallons or water every day (http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/indoor.html).  No just image reusing the grey water for this application and think of the impacts that it can provide.  These impacts can be seen not just in America but neighboring counties as well, countries that depend on the water that flows through the United States.

The driving force behind this project that is going to keep me on this path of sustainably is the fact that it is so simple and self regulation that little or no attention is needed on my part to continue the process of collect grey water for irrigation reuse.  The brunt of the work that I have to do is get my clothes dirty and place them into the laundry machine, wow not so difficult.  So, basically the simplicity of this project is what is enabling me to remain sustainable.  It basically comes down to this, if I can do this PSP everyone can.

Benefits to this project are not only monetary but environmental as well.  Yes, the sewer bill is going to be lowered by how much I don’t know yet, but I’ll assume by at least a few dollars over a one month span.  As well, the water bill is going to be reduced, with the amount of water I use daily to keep my lawn and garden green and living the bill is huge.  So by reusing grey water my hope is to reduce the water bill in half and then in the future with recycling grey water for toilet consumption I have hopes to reduce the bill even further.  One good benefit to this system although already kind of mentioned is the reduction of the cost of water for homeowners.  What I mean is that with continued raising populations, the amount of water per person is becoming scarce, with this means increased cost of water t=by the water companies.  This is a simple concept that has supply goes down and demand goes up so does the price.  This is our future; this is what life is going to be like if we as human don’t make the change now.  Think about if you just reduce the usage of water by as much as fifty gallons a day, now compound that annually and that is 18,250 gallons per year.  Now the current population size of the U.S. as of 2012 is 314,131,661 individuals (http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html).  Image if every single person was to reduce their use by at least 50 gallons that would be a savings of 5.73×10¹² gallons annually.  Think of the possibilities especially from a system that is so simple to operate and maintain.  Come on people do your part to live sustainably and provide a future for the rest of the humans on this planet.  The time is now, reuse, reduce and recycle!!!

Fifty Shades of Gray

The Nation’s waterways are vitally important for our everyday life.  These waterways provide life for humans and sustain ecological systems throughout the country.  In 2005, about 410,000 million gallons per day of water was withdrawn for use in the United States (1).  Nearly two-thirds of the fresh groundwater withdrawn in 2005 was for irrigation, and more than half of that was for irrigation in just four states:  California, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Texas.  Irrigation was the largest use of fresh groundwater in 25 states and nationwide groundwater withdrawals for irrigation were about 3.5 times larger than for public supply (1).

Environmental awareness and conservation has been steadily increasing over the last decade.  As the price of drinking water has continued to rise, the interest and need to conserve also increases.  The idea of using gray water for landscape irrigation is an adoptable method to utilizing sustainable water practices.  It’s not necessary to use high-quality potable water for activities such as irrigation and those individuals who do reuse gray water will see a cost savings in the long run.  Lastly, with gray water reuse less water is being withdrawn from out waterways which is aiding in sustaining all the ecosystems in and along the major waterways providing a healthy environment not only for humans but all aspects of life.

So what is gray water?  Gray water is water from kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, showers, bathtubs, and washing machines.  The difference between gray water and black is that gray does not contain the hazardous chemicals found in water from sources such as dishwashers, garbage disposals and toilets.  However recognize that gray water is generally of higher quality than most combined water discharged to the sewer, it still contains chemicals and microorganisms.  Lastly do not confuse gray water with recycled water, as recycled water has been treated at a municipal waste water treatment facility.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0uDraqsi0U

In the home on average Americans do 400 loads of launder per year and the conventional washer or “top loader” uses on average 40 gallons per load and the “front loader” washer utilizes on average between 20-25 gallons per load (2).  My personal sustainability promise is that I was to reuse the gray water from my washing machine.  I currently own a conventional style “top loader” washing machine and between my family and I, we probably use the washing machine at least a few times a week.  Let just image for now that I use the machine twice in a week that an average of 80 gallons per week, so that comes out to 3,840 gallons per year.  That’s insane!  The idea is to utilize the gray water to irrigate both my front and back yard to include my flower gardens.  But if we all began reusing gray water for irrigation, image the possibilities.  At least, the 128,000 million gallons of water per day used for irrigation in 2005 could have been returned to the source and the ecosystems throughout the nation would not have been destroyed.

Is there another way of life for American today in regards to gray water?  I don’t believe so, this provides an opportunity for Americans to stand up for sustainability and provide an alternative to extracting water for irrigation and utilize reused water which poses no harm to the environment and reduces the 410,000 million gallons of water we Americans use annually.  Starting off small and let’s say like what I’m going to do for a month and that is reuse water from the washing machine is rather a simple start to the problem at large.  This fit is not only good for myself but can be adopted for others and the idea is also rather simple to construct.  The plan of action is that I will disconnect the drainage line from the wall that comes from the washing machine and connect it to a 500 gallon water tank that I acquired from the local Wilco.  So, as I use the washing machine to clean my clothes the used water will accumulate in this tank that I have placed in the back yard.  From there I will reuse it for irrigating my lawn and flowers.  How does this affect my life?  Well there is no real difficulty placed upon me with this system and it won’t make my life any easier either, but there are benefits that are associated with this system.  No direct benefits, but the long term knowledge that I’m living a little bit more sustainable and less wasteful.  This is going to be good and am looking forward to doing my part to sustain the planet.

[1]  http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wateruse-total.html

[2]  http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/washers.html

[3]  http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/reuse/docs/graywater/GraywaterGuideHomeowners.pdf

[4]  http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.proxy.library.oregonstate.edu/10.1016/j.watres.2009.09.023

[5]  http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.proxy.library.oregonstate.edu/10.1016/S0015-1882(08)70056-9